


Twelve Feet Deep

by lauwerance



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Alternative Scene, First Kiss, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, i guess?, i have no idea how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24730912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauwerance/pseuds/lauwerance
Summary: JJ’s reckless and daring and gentle and protective all at the same time and Pope wonders with a start when he started falling for him.Basically it's what I think would have happened if Pope had followed up the tiny cheek kiss JJ gives him at Midsummer's with an actual kiss.
Relationships: JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 132





	Twelve Feet Deep

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy all! I just wanted to do a scene rewrite for what is the first of maybe a few little outer banks fics because I have some many ideas for stuff that could have (and should have) happened as like alternative scenes and the likes. Also I think this whole fandom is really sleeping on the fact that the ship name for jj/pope could be heybank and I had to tell the world somehow.
> 
> the title is from a song of the same name by the front bottoms because twelve feet deep and Especially twin sized mattress are Such jj songs prove me wrong
> 
> also this was inspired by juliemolina’s wonderful fic about the same topic so go read that too!!

Pope’s been trying to focus on the task at hand, but that’s sort of hard when the task at hand is shucking oysters at the biggest kook party of the season.

While his dad rambles on and on about his scholarship.

After JJ took the fall for him.

Pope has been replaying the scene from earlier that day over and over again in his head, trying to remember it all, clearly and precisely. When Shoupe had come into the shop and slapped a pair of handcuffs on him, Pope had started tuning out everything else, even the voice right next to him reading his rights. He could remember his dad and JJ and Kie all shouting at the deputy and asking him what Pope even did. All Pope had been able to think in that moment was  _ I’m fucked, my entire life is  _ fucked. He really doesn’t think that they give scholarships to people with felonies. 

Nothing had made it past the absolute hurricane of anxiety until JJ had decided to fuck with karma just as Pope was headed into the back of a squad car by shouting “It was me!”. At the time, Pope had barely heard that, too, but by going over what had happened dozens of times he had put the pieces together.

He had felt terrified for himself, but then JJ had thrown a wrench into the cop’s plan using himself and he had felt terrified for JJ, too. He still does. JJ had given him a look, part resignation to what he knew would happen to him if he took the blame, part daring Pope to say anything to prove JJ’s innocence, part begging Pope to let him take one for the team. 

No matter how much Pope thinks it over, though, no matter how much he rolls it around in his brain, he still can’t figure out why he had let JJ get away with it. Had it been JJ’s reassurance, his own fear of his carefully planned future falling apart? Either way, whatever the reason, it had been selfish and stupid and Pope wished he could just take it all back, even back to sinking the boat. He wished he had never done that one, stupid thing that had almost landed him behind bars and had gotten JJ sent in his place. Jesus, the guy probably had to pay  _ thousands _ in restitution and it was all Pope’s fault. Who cares that JJ had egged him on? Pope couldn’t blame it on him; it came down to him to make his own decisions, or however the shitty life motto went. 

He would pay JJ back, he  _ had _ to. JJ, who had taken the fall for him without so much as blinking an eye, who definitely would have gotten into a brawl with the kooks if Pope hadn’t asked him not to. Who had lured the dog away from him and John B in the junkyard and who had kicked around a hacky sack with him while John B and Kie had gone into the lighthouse, JJ who smoked a little too much and did reckless stuff and Pope worries which would kill him first.

Pope is still thinking about all this when his dad elbows him and tells him to get back to the grill before everything on it burns to a crisp and Pope begrudgingly complies. He can’t blame his dad too much for practically reading him the riot act while they were unloading the truck. Pope would probably do the same thing in his dad’s shoes but damn if it wasn’t exhausting. Not to mention Pope had done it to himself in his own head on the ride over to the country club. 

He’s overthinking. Pope’s helped his dad at events like these enough to know that an efficient way to get through the night is to turn his brain off and get lost in the mind-numbing knowledge that he’ll just be cooking seafood for rich assholes for the next few hours. He had been hoping Kie would keep him company a little more, but she had been whisked away by her mom as soon as more people started arriving and Pope hasn’t seen her since. He looks around, trying to spot her flower crown among the rest (it’s really hard, there are a  _ lot _ of flower crowns). What he sees instead is a familiar mess of blonde hair and JJ looking simultaneously in and out of place.

He’s dressed as a waiter, blending in perfectly with the rest but Pope singles him out in a second and makes a beeline for him, not even caring that he might blow the cover that JJ’s so obviously trying to keep up.

“Hey” he says, grabbing for JJ’s arm and interrupting whatever path the other boy had been on. JJ jumps a little in his grasp, Pope can feel it even through his gloves, but then JJ breaks into a smile as Pope pulls him back behind the grill and out of the crowd.

“Dude,” JJ breathes, putting a hand to his chest for what is probably just dramatic effect and not an actual heart attack. “Don’t sneak up on me like that right now-” he says quietly, and Pope is crushing him in a hug barely after JJ stops speaking. JJ lets out an  _ oof _ as Pope pulls him close and doesn’t let go. It’s the first time Pope has seen him since he disappeared into the back of the squad car that had never been meant for JJ, and Pope wasn’t about to let another minute go by without thanking him.

“Woah,” JJ says, sounding genuinely surprised. “Unexpected PDA there, Dr. Spock.” At a better time, Pope would have definitely rolled his eyes at that, but he’s too busy clinging to JJ and being so, _ so  _ relieved that he’s not sitting in jail. He feels JJ put a hand on his back, then pull away to look at him. 

“But uh... hey,” JJ says, pressing a tiny kiss to Pope’s cheek, right near his ear. “Love you too, man.” JJ smiles at him, his lips quirking up at the corners and it just makes Pope want to hug him again. 

“Dude, I’m  _ sick _ of all this  _ shit _ , man!” Pope hisses instead. JJ furrows his brows. 

“You’re sick?” he asks, bringing his hand up to feel Pope’s forehead.  _ Jesus Christ _ , Pope thinks, although he’s not sure whether it’s out of exasperation or affection, and bats JJ’s hand away. JJ looks him up and down, as if he can see how sick Pope is through his gloves and the dumb apron. “You don’t seem sick.”

“I’m sick on the inside.” Pope clarifies.

“Right.” JJ says, giving him a once over again. “Well, I already knew that.” It gives Pope a good opportunity to study JJ’s face for a minute, to take in all the little cuts and the bruise that’s coming in on the side of his face and his heart sinks a little.

“Did Shoupe do that?” he almost whispers, gesturing to his own face and hoping JJ takes the hint.

“Oh, this? Nah, this is…” JJ points to his face and waves his hand like it’s no big deal. “It’s my dad. You know?” he says, his expression going almost blank when his voice breaks a little. Pope’s heart practically plummets. “Has that right jab.” JJ continues. “He can really snap it off at times.” Pope scoffs, glancing off to the side to instinctively check to see if anyone’s listening before looking at JJ again.

“That looks like more than a  _ jab _ , bro.” Pope says. JJ shrugs, tensing up a little as he shakes his head. 

“It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before.” Pope knows that’s true. All the pogues do. They don’t talk about it, because JJ never brings it up and can defend himself and so they never talk about it. But they know. And Pope’s heart aches.

“I’m sorry,” Pope stammers, his voice still low. “I-I shouldn’t have let you take the fall for all this.” he insists, though JJ shakes his head and says “No”. 

“It’s my fault.” he says, followed almost immediately by JJ’s “No, it’s not”.

“It’s  _ my _ fault.” Pope says again, like maybe if JJ hears it again he’ll accept it but Pope gets no such luck.

“Shut up.” JJ says as Pope keeps rambling.

“You took the fall for me, and- I’ll tell the truth, I’ll go to the cops-” says, all over a backdrop of whatever shitty kook music the shitty kook DJ is playing and JJ saying “shut up”. 

“Shut up. Pope! Shut up.” JJ says, taking Pope’s face in his hands and shaking him a little as if to knock some sort of messed-up sense into him. “For once in your life, trust someone else.” JJ says, and Pope just stares back at him, at JJ and his scabbed over split lip and his blonde hair that’s falling in his face and the soft light coming from all the strings of lights overhead. “John B and I got it all sorted out.” JJ says, grinning. “We’re gonna be filthy rich, man.” At Pope’s confused expression, JJ leans in closer. “We’re back in the G-game, baby.” he whispers, and Pope gapes at him.

“G-game? I thought we  _ lost  _ the gold game.” he whispers back and JJ shrugs.

“Yeah, well, we’re in overtime now.” he says. “Fourth,” he says, holding up his fingers for the visual. “and one, baby. Be right back.” he says, already stepping away from Pope.

“Fourth and one?” Pope mutters, but refocuses as he watches JJ move away. “Wait!” he says before he loses his nerve, loud enough for JJ to hear as the other boy’s focus visibly starts to slip away but quiet enough to not be overheard. 

“What?” JJ asks, taking a step back towards him. Before the step is even finished, Pope’s reaching out with a glove that’s at least a size too big. He pulls on the front of JJ’s vest, only taking a second to notice the stupidly endearing flowered bow tie before closing the gap between them before he regrets it and kissing JJ, really  _ kissing _ him. 

It only lasts for about a second, Pope trying to pour all of his gratitude into the feeling of JJ’s lips, warm on his, before he realizes that this was a stupid mistake and he pulls back so fast it’s almost like he’s pushing JJ away again. 

JJ’s eyes are wide but focused on Pope, his lips parted a little in surprise and Pope drops his hand from the front of JJ’s shirt.

“Shit. Shit! I’m sorry, just forget-” he gets out only that much before JJ takes a few more steps and kisses Pope back, his hands coming up to hold Pope’s face again. Pope’s own eyes widen in shock for half a second before he closes them, savoring the unexpected but probably short reciprocation. 

This kiss lasts only a few seconds longer than the first, but it’s nicer; JJ’s aim is better and Pope can feel where his lip had been split open. JJ pulls back, leaving his hands in place for a moment as Pope sucks in a breath. JJ’s smiling ear to ear, and Pope would give just about anything to keep that expression there, all the time. He wants to put his arms around JJ’s neck, reach around and feel the soft hair that he knows is there. 

“I’ve gotta go,” JJ says softly, glancing behind him as if just remembering that they’re not alone at this party. Pope glances nervously over to where he had last seen his dad, but thankfully the elder Heyward is rummaging through a cooler. “But I’ll be back.” JJ assures him, and drops his hands from Pope’s face and starts to move away from him just as quickly as he came. Before Pope can let out an overwhelmed yet relieved sigh, JJ steps back towards him, gives him one last peck and a smile, and then practically dances away into the crowd, weaving through people until Pope can’t see him anymore. 

Pope can’t do anything but stand in stunned silence for almost a minute at what just happened. He  _ kissed _ JJ. And JJ had kissed him  _ back _ . It was like the moment from earlier: he knew what had happened but at the same time he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. His head is practically buzzing with all sorts of thoughts when his dad elbows him again and tells him to get back on the grill or he’s gonna have to spend the whole time picking up oyster shells.

A hell of a lot of time has gone into Pope being pretty sure that he likes Kiara. He’s pretty sure all of the pogues have at some point, he’s just following the lead. He can’t speak for the rest of the guys, but he likes her unbreakable spirit, her sheer force of will that ends up being around 60 percent of John B’s impulse control (JJ just encourages him and Pope, more often than not, doesn’t have an opinion on what should and should not be lit on fire). He likes the way Kie grins when she’s finally the one to come up with a plan, he likes that she hangs out with the three of them instead of being suckered into being a kook. 

All of that, by itself, sure seems like a crush to Pope. It’s safe, it’s familiar, it’s Kie. 

JJ is the complete opposite. While Kie usually keeps them out of danger, most of the time it’s JJ that launches them in headfirst. He’s way too energetic for his own body, Pope swears the boy generates his own sunlight. It comes out in his blinding smile and how he bounces around on his own two feet when he gets excited and when he’s laughing at something John B. said. He’s so stupidly protective, would do just about anything to make sure any of the pogues were safe. JJ has their back, not matter the scenario, that much was obvious when he pulled that stupid fucking gun on Topper. It’s head-spinning how quickly he can go from raring for a fight to sleeping so sweetly on the pull out bed in John B’s living room. JJ’s reckless and daring and gentle and protective all at the same time and Pope wonders with a start when he started falling for him. 

He’s still trying to pinpoint the moment when, not even 10 minutes later, Pope’s distracted by whooping and shouting coming from one side of the yard, and he looks up to see JJ being pushed along by some asshole security guard. And of course JJ’s making as much of a scene as possible, calling out Rose’s ugly-as-hell headpiece and downing random people’s drinks as he goes and Pope can only stand and watch this absolute tornado of a person make his way across the lawn. 

“I invited him here, I’m a member of this club!” Kiara’s yelling from the porch, and just as Pope feels like maybe he should do something, JJ’s shoving the security guard into a table of hors d'oeuvres and saying “Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon’s, Kie” and Pope knows he’s going to follow him before he even turns around.

“Pope, you as well, alright?” JJ says, giving him a finger gun. “Rixon’s cove. Let’s roll.” Pope looks at Kie, as if to ask if she’s coming too as JJ goes on about  _ throwing off chains _ and whatever else. As soon as she starts to move, Pope’s shucking off his gloves and handing his dad the apron before he can listen to his protests and running after JJ. 

He laughs when John B pulls him into a hug and out of the corner of his eye he can see JJ spinning Kie into one of their own before sprinting after John B to where he knows the HMS Pogue must be. 

“Let’s go, boys!” Kie says, as she leaps in and takes her place at the bow. JJ hauls anchor and helps John B push the boat back into the water as Pope jumps in and then JJ is sitting next to him, backs against the wheels as John B steers them away from kook city. 

JJ laughs and smiles at him and knocks their knees together and Pope can’t help but laugh back, thrilled to be there. 


End file.
